Surge and Destroy
by Illeana Starbright
Summary: The Districts want to see the Capitol to suffer. The Capitol wants to get rid of it's more unique troublemakers. The tributes and Liara's pack of mutts, they just want to survive.
1. Caged

Author's Note: This story is based off the idea of human muttations in a story called _That Capitol Runt: In The Games_ by _Kaylas In Wonderland_ who is letting me use her idea and is going to read over this to make sure I don't end up copying her story. I own nothing of the Hunger Games you recognize. The first two chapters will be posted today because they are both relatively short. Enjoy!

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_Prelude:Caged_

The bang of the massive door being slammed shut set them all off. Wailing, chirps, howls, and something resembling baby language or human tongue marred by a mouth full of razor sharp teeth echoed off the solid steel walls. The scientist walked down the tile halls, unbothered by the noise or the sight of human and less than human creatures locked in steel cages with diamond doors that had tiny holes in it. He had a metal clipboard that he checked something on every few cages. Finally he paused at the end of one row, tapping on the glass window of one cage. No answer. He stopped fully, looking up from the clipboard and frowning at the shadowy darkness beyond the cage door. As if sensing something was wrong the howls and screeches filtered off into the kind of dead silence that makes you want to look behind you. The kind of silence that happens when the monster is looming over your shoulder with a bloody grin.

He rapped harder against the door of the cage. Nothing again. He stepped closer, leaning down to glance through one of the holes in the diamond. That was when something black and liquid splatted against the front of the cage, some of it seeping through the breathing holes to hit the face of the scientist. Instantly it began to burn and he stumbled back, shrieking and clawing at his eyes. The howling and shrieking started off again at a higher, more frantic pitch. The man had stumbled, half crawled to the wall, a feeble hand reaching up to slam against the panic button before slumping to the ground. The poison rushing through his eyes to his brain killed him less than a minute later.

Five minutes later another man in a white coat entered through the same door as the first, followed by Seneca Crane. This time the boom of the massive metal door slamming shut behind them instantly silenced everyone. "Who is it this time?" Crane asked his companion.

"Dr. Iverson," the man replied. "The new one." They walked in silence down the rows until they found the dead doctor. The man knelt next to Iverson and glanced at his eyes. "Shoshona again," he said gruffly, standing up. "She didn't show at the front of the cage so he leaned down to look for her. That's when she got him."

"He was warned?" Crane questioned.

"Of course," the other man replied, sounding offended as he ran a hand through his greying blond hair, making it stand on end in spikes for a moment before it fell down flat on his head again.

"My apologies Dr. Warner," Crane said smoothly. "Things have been stressful lately preparing for the games and I've been on edge lately. You have my sincerest apology for that statement."

Dr. Warner nodded briskly, glancing back down at his dead worker. "We need to get some of these mutts out of here before knowledge of them becomes public. Shoshona already has the kill count for the most new worker deaths, Liara and Lysander have slaughtered most the Peacekeepers sent down here, and Lyss is going to escape if we give her long enough."

"Perhaps I have a solution," Crane said. "President Snow mentioned that the games are becoming a bit monotonous. Perhaps you could spare six of your more troublesome mutts to participate in the games under the guise of lower class Capitol citizens."

"Excellent," Dr. Warner replied with a smile.

"One of them will make it out of course," Crane continued. "But they'll be bound to their co-victor, moving them out of the Capitol publicity."

"I can work with that," Warner said, a smirk curving on his lips. "Give me a week and I'll give you the most exciting games in the history of Panem."

"Deal," Seneca Crane responded with an identical smirk, shaking Dr. Warner's hand before walking with him out of the room, leaving Dr. Iverson's body behind.


	2. Drafted

_Drafted- Liara_

The room was entirely, mind numblingly white. That was nothing new. Neither was the present company gathered. Little blond Lyss was fifteen with angel blue eyes. Tall Shoshona was dark, both of hair and skin, and her eyes were as black as pitch. White blonde Kayden and his little brother Kai sat side by side, Kai casting shy looks at Lyss. Sullen and silent Lysander brooded next to me, his honey colored skin and light brown hair a mirror of my own. We were shoved together most of the time after some kind of full scale disaster. Last night's had been Shoshona killing the newest victim, excuse me, doctor. "I shall assume you all have no idea why you're here," Dr. Warner announced, striding into the room. The swinging doors behind him swished back and forth for a moment before settling. Dr. Warner always began conversations with us this way and Shoshona had made a habit of contradicting him every time.

"Oh we know why we're here," Shoshona drawled with a roll of her chocolate eyes. "I killed the last newbie and you're here to tell us whatever competition we have going on is over. We're not allowed to kill the next one." Lyss giggled at that, Lysander and I exchanged smirks, Kayden rolled his eyes, and Kai laughed. In truth Lysander, Shoshona, and I really did have a killing competition going on behind the scenes. Dr. Warner had always made wry jokes about that but he had no idea that the competition was real.

"Oh no," another smooth voice said, causing all our heads to snap towards the door. "That's not at all what he's here to tell you," Seneca Crane said, smirking us like we were some kind of prey. We hadn't even heard him come in. Seneca Crane was not only the new head gamemaker but also the new head of the human-muttation project we were part of. He was always creepily, silent, never seen until he wanted to be noticed.

"Are you sure _he's_ not a mutt?" Kai asked with an arch of a pale blond eyebrow, asking what we all were thinking but with much less sarcasm than Shoshona or I would have dished out.

"You'll never know," Seneca replied, smirk still in place. "Because unlike mutts like yourself I'm a purebred." Lysander and I snarled at that, lips curling back from suddenly jagged teeth, and Shoshona hissed menacingly, eyes turning flat and reflective.. The Peacekeepers around the room stiffened, shifting guns into more easily accessed positions. They were around to kill us if we made a wrong move. What the Peacekeepers didn't realize was that in the time it took them to pull the trigger on one of us we could slaughter them all. We cooperated only because we wanted to. And because being shot wasn't plesant.

We smirked menacingly at them. All of us here had reputations. Shoshona spit poison when you least expected it. Lyss could throw things with her mind. Kai always knew where everyone was and Kayden was faster than anyone I'd ever met. Lysander and I were just plain deadly with claws, razor sharp teeth, and incredible resilience. "You six have been selected to be Capitol tributes in the 74th Annual Hunger Games," Seneca continued as if we hadn't just threatened him, Dr. Warner, and the Peacekeepers.

I let out a little bark of laughter and I wasn't the only one laughing. Only Kayden and Kai were from the Capitol and they were from the slums. Ethereal Lyss was from District 1. Dark skinned Shoshona was from District 11. Lysander and I were from District 2. "What a laugh," Shoshona drawled. "Most of us aren't even from the Capitol."

"You can't make us pretend to be from here either," Lyss added, her blue eyes narrowed slightly. There wasn't an ounce of challenge in her tone though. It was simply a statement. Lyss was good at making a challenge sound like a statement.

"Oh yes we can," Dr. Warner said with a grim smile, motioning toward the silver bands on our wrists. "Unless you want to let all of Panem know what kind of freaks you really are." Lyss, Kayden, and Kai exchanged wary glances but I scoffed at the threat. Shoshona rolled her eyes and Lysander smirked.

"And let your secret out?" I sneered. "You wouldn't dare."

"Yes we would," Crane spoke up as Dr. Warner turned bright red. "Because the instant you step out of line and we have make you surge you and every other mutt down here dies horribly painful deaths. Welcome to the Hunger Games." Then he turned and ushered Dr. Warner out, leaving us alone with our suddenly sickening thoughts and the Peacekeepers. None of us spoke. None of us had to. We would play their game, even if it meant dying, to save those still clinging to life down below.


	3. Parade

_Parade- Lyss_

I shift nervously next to Kai on our chariot. None of the other "Capitol" tributes were there yet. Kai slips his hand into mine and I manage a weak smile for him. "Oh cheer up," a dry voice calls suddenly over the mocking murmur of the Career tributes nearby. Shoshona saunters in, Kayden following silently behind her. The dark girl is clothed in a short, skin tight dress that looks like it is made of green and black snake scales, perhaps appropriate considering her gifts. Kayden is dressed in white like his younger brother and I but with the scar marring his angel face he looks anything but innocent. Unlike Kai and I who look like children playing dress up in white and gold Kayden looks dangerous and Shoshona darkly intriguing.

I would worry for my life had my fate not already been decided. In the two weeks we had been groomed and trained for this we had planned as well. We had made a pact, despite my protestations, that I would be the Capitol tribute to come out of the arena. I hated the thought of my friends dying or killing themselves for me but I understood the logic. Lysander and Liara were too prone to killing to keep our brethren still trapped in the lab alive. Shoshona was too short tempered and deadly. Kayden and Kai were prone to running their mouths and taking risks. I was the only one who had yet to make President Snow furious at me.

That was when I heard the whisper. Lysander and Liara walked in together, arm in arm. They were dressed all in red and black. Black designs, done by Liara's hand I was sure, swirled across their bare skin. They looked otherworldly and terrifying. I am suddenly very glad these two brown haired wolves in sheep's clothing are for me and not against me. Even the Careers fall silent as they saunter by them, heads held high. Lysander gives Kai and nod. Liara winks slyly at me when no one else was watching. They step into their chariots and the parade is ready to being.

Just before Kai and my chariot pulls out Liara beams at me. The expression is so odd that I smile, giggling, and at the satisfied look on her face I knew this was what she wanted. Kai and I clasped hands, smiling and waving at the crowd. Behind us Shoshona smirks and Kayden has the barest hint of a smile. Liara and Lysander look cold and unforgiving. Between all of us I assume the rest of the tributes will fade away. I am proved wrong. The two icy cold Careers from two draw plenty of attention with their icy stares. District 12 draws attention but for a different reason. They are on fire.

They aren't really on fire but fire trails from their headbands and makes them seem more ethereal than Kai and I, the innocent angels. The crowd roars and I shoot a nervous glance first at Shoshona and then at Liara. Shoshona looks furious and I know the pair from 12 now have her as their enemies. Liara meets my gaze levelly, seeming not at all worried. That reassures me slightly and Kai squeezes my hand gently. I breathe out slowly and turn back to the front. Everything will be all right; Liara will take care of that.

After Snow's speak the chariots return to the stables. "Did you see those brats?" Shoshona fumes.

"Angry you were upstaged by a girl who doesn't look like a slut?" Liara shot back and Shoshona hissed. Liara and Shoshona have never gotten along. Both are too headstrong and independent to be anything but enemies. If there was a real fight between them I wouldn't be sure of who to bet on. Liara is fast and can take far too many hits before falling but Shoshona has her poison.

"If I was upstaged by _her_ I could understand," Shoshona snarls, motioning to me. "She's an angel, not a gutter rat from 12."

"Who cares if she's from 12?" Liara growls, throwing her hands up in the air. "You shouldn't go around mocking her 'Shona unless you want Lyss to die when she wins."

"WHAT?" Shoshona shrieks, outraged at both the hated nickname and the suggestion that the girl from 12 might win with me. I held in a giggle, not wanting to make Shoshona hate me this close to the games.

"Lay off," Kayden orders suddenly. "Both of you." They silence under his dark glare but neither on stops fuming. The argument is over for now but the anger is still there, lurking under the surface, as we are led away to our rooms.


	4. Argue

_Argue- Lyss_

The next morning we gather for the first day of training and Atala, the head trainer, deviates from what I guess is her usual speech when it gets to us. "You all know that this year's games is a little different. Six very unique Capitol tributes are entered in the games," Atala says.

"You mean six rejects," Shoshona drawls. Liara bristles immediately but Kayden glares at both at them, instantly silencing them. There's an awkward pause as Atala also glares at Shoshona, unaware of how close she was to have to dodge Liara and Shoshona fighting. I let out a relieved breath when Atala turns away from us to continue.

"You are to be informed about their unique gifts before we begin training," Atala says. This time Liara and Shoshona are in complete agreement as they bristle at the injustice of it all.

"Why you-" Shoshona begins but Kayden claps a hand over her mouth, cutting off the rest of her sentence, and Lysander grabbed Liara's arm to keep her where she was.

"Quite finished?" Atala asked with an arched eyebrow. Liara growled low in her throat and Shoshona looked mad enough to start spitting poison so I took matters into my own hands.

"Yes ma'am," I said calmly, raising my head slightly. Atala nodded and turned back to the front.

"First group is Kai and Lyss," she announced. I took Kai's hand as Liara and Shoshona calmed themselves and readied to attack if anything went wrong. "Both are fifteen. Lyss is telekenetic and Kai is a form of telepathic." I relaxed slightly at that. Atala was telling them something but not giving up all our cards. "Next are Kayden and Shoshona, eighteen. Kayden has advanced speed ability and Shoshona has snake like qualities." Shoshona smiled her best bloody smile and I could almost hear Liara sigh from behind me. "Last are Liara and Lysander, twins and seventeen. Both have wolf like qualities. Lysander can shut down his pain receptors and Liara is resilient."

"What did they do to Snow?" I asked Kai under my breath at that. Kai shrugged and I doubted Lysander and Liara would answer my question. They both keep their lives before the Capitol silent. Atala dismisses us and we split up. Kai goes with Kayden. I search for Liara in the sudden crowd of people.

"Lost little girl?" The question is a sneer from the girl from 2. I eye her warily. Even though she is a little shorter than me she practically oozed deadly ability.

"I'd advise you to take a step back," I tell her, suddenly seeing a figure pushing her way through the crowd.

"Why?" the girl sneered. "Going to throw me if not?"

"No," I said mildly, taking a good look at the expression on Liara's face. "But she is." The girl turned then to come face to face with one of Liara's darkest glares. The girl did take my advice then and took a step back as Liara took my hand.

"Come on Lyss," she said. "Let's leave these losers and get some practice in."

"Like you weren't one of them once," Shoshona called suddenly from across the room. I felt Liara tense, her hand releasing mine. Kayden let out a particularly colorful curse as Liara lunged at Shoshona, taking the older girl to the ground. Shoshona flipped them as Kayden shoved the other stunned tributes aside, Lysander trailing behind him. I knew from experience that it would take both of them just to rip the two apart. The Peacekeepers in the room shift uncomfortably, unwilling to get between the two tussling females. I honestly don't blame them. Shoshona is spitting poison because she can't get her head around to bite Liara. The brown haired girl is slicing up Shoshona's arms with her clawed nails until Lysander grabs her around the middle and rips her off of Shoshona. Kayden catches Shoshona then before she can jump on Liara again.

Shoshona begins to shriek and curse until Kayden snarls at her to shut up or he'll snap her neck just for some silence. Liara meanwhile has composed herself and Lysander has released her. I see tiny burns on her arms where Shoshona's poison has eaten through the fabric but Liara is her typically unfazed self. "I was never one of them," she says coldly before turning and stomping out of the room, leaving me alone once again.


End file.
